DIP Episode 511 - How To Read and Retain Information

Welcome to episode 511 of the Divine Intervention Podcasts. In today's podcast, I'm going to be addressing a topic titled reading and retaining information. How to read and retain information. This is something I've got in so many questions from people on, so I just figured out me a short podcast on some very practical approaches to mastery of information, basically. So, without further ado, I'm just going to jump right into it. And, you know, I guess before I jump into it, if you're taking step one to step three, or complex one to three, I have a few classes coming up this week that will be of benefit to you this week and next week and the week after that. So, I guess maybe two weeks after that. So I have a 2.5 hour in-be-in-e-me test against strategy class. It's for step one to step three taking place this Thursday in the evening. And then on Friday, I have a four hour bio-statistics class. So first step one to three. On Saturday, I have a five hour social sciences quality improvement, healthcare systems, and ethics class. Also first step one to step three. And then next week, from Monday to Saturday, I have a 20 hour step two step three course. It's also for complex two and three. And then in the first week of March, I do have a 25 hour step one class. These classes are not lectures. The way they work is they over Zoom. They're usually held in the evenings.

And I use clinical scenarios to teach you the concepts, exam style questions, help you make integrations, and really help you understand the path of physiology. So if you're interested, check me and email through the website. I'll give you some more information. Okay. So, in terms of practical approaches to reading and retaining information, I think the very first thing is to discuss some principles. And then after that, I'll give some specifics. So as I'm discussing the principles, I'll also give some specifics. The very first thing, very first and program principle that I think many people lose sight of with studying. And this ends up being the problem for many people is that they don't start studying early enough. Time is very important in studying. Time is very important in studying. And it all just goes back to more personal factors like you know when your exams are coming up. You shouldn't wait till the last minute. That's the truth. I remember for me, I started getting in high gear with studying first step one, probably after a few months within my first year. Started taking it a little more seriously. And before I remember when I took my first practice test, this was even before my second year of medical school ended. I'm pretty sure I was already scoring at or above the national average on step one to start. Why? Because again, I'll give it myself a copy of some months of time to study. That's the thing. Studying takes time. It's just simple as that.

So you need to be able to start early. But many people, they know they have a major exam next week. They'll start studying the Friday of the week before. Yes, you may still dwell on your exams, but your studying has not been optimal. What's principle number two? Principle number two, so the principle number one was time. Principle number two is time in. The exact time you study matters. You see people, they spend so many hours sometimes studying, but you don't get a lot out of it. Why? For many people, it's because they're studying at the wrong time. You always want to try to study when your brain is freshest. Honestly, one of the best times to study is when you wake up in the morning. Like for me, one thing that I love to do, I remember this was my routine in medical school. After I wake up in the morning and I pray, you know, study my Bible and work out, the next thing I'm doing is boom, I'm going straight to studying. Because then my brain is working extremely well. I have just exercised, I feel very good. I have just prayed, you know, I've just woken up, I just had a good night's sleep. So my brain is in tip-top shape to start a simulating large amounts of information. So time in matters. You see some people, they do a lot of your studying when their brains are extremely tired. To be honest with you, it's almost better to wake up a little earlier than you would normally, so you can have time to study before you go to school or before you go for your clinical rotations.

I'm not saying you cannot study at other times during the day, but it may just not be the most optimal time. Or what may be a smart idea is after you come back from work, maybe get a nap, like 30 minutes to an hour, don't make it crazy long, but get like a decent sized nap and then wake up and study. I'm telling you, when you study after you've just woken up, that's a very smart thing to do. Now, what is principle number three? Number three is the slow principle. The thing is, many people don't realize this, but when you're studying, it's a balance between speed and comprehension. And it kind of feeds off of the first principle of studying early. The thing is, many people, they want to understand crazy amounts of information, but they are not willing to dedicate their appropriate amount of time to master that information. The thing is, a balance between speed and comprehension. And the thing is, you don't have to be slow all the time, but for your first exposure to material, slow down. For your first exposure to material, slow down. I'm telling you, there are these famous, I think they were maybe like two or three guys I need in med school. I'm just using them as an example. I'm trying to be as practical as possible with this podcast, but these guys, they did this thing called the slow detailed pass. When they were studying for their, I think it was their step one example, they did the slow pass.

It took a big chunk of the dedicated period, but that slow first pass was a very good first pass. And then if I'm not, if I'm remembering correctly, the rest of the dedicated periods, they just kind of basically just hold it hard and just review that material a few more times and they were set. These guys, all of them, if I'm remembering correctly, if my memory serves me right, they crushed their exams. So the thing is, many people, they have first pass through material, they want to zoom through it, they want to get through it as quickly as possible. That is not a smart way to study. Your first pass through material should be a slow, steady, detailed pass, a slow, steady, detailed pass. Okay. Now what is principle number four? I really want to keep this podcast short and sweet is the understanding principle. Now, when you're exposing yourself to material for the first time, one smart thing to do is to first skim through the material, skim through Ski M, skim through the material and just get like a good general idea, like, okay, look at the table of contents. What are the tables? What is the topic? How many sections are there in that chapter? Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Get a quick overview. For example, you know that, oh, it's a detailed lecture on something you're about to watch. Let's say you're about to watch a lecture on glycolysis and it's a one hour lecture. Go on You Tube, find a five minute video. Don't start dealing to You Tube shorts and anything. Be focused here.

Find a five or ten minute You Tube video on glycolysis just to get the basic ideas. Orient yourself. After you've then orientated yourself, still within that first pass, then go deep. Then go deep, right? Go through a deep read or a deep listen. And honestly, when you're doing this part, all you're doing is you're just trying to, like as you're doing this, honestly, as you're doing this, your goal is to extract understanding. That's why for the overwhelming majority of people, it's a very faulty approach to make on key your first exposure to material. That is not smart at all. And again, I'm telling you this, the USML is these days are written very well to where if you're just a person that has memorized stuff, you very likely may not do well on it or you will not perform as well as you'd expect on it or you may notice that you struggle with a large number of questions. So I will strongly encourage you. Try that first exposure to material. Let it be an understanding exposure. Try to get the material down. And how do you understand material? Obviously, I would hope that you're using the right resource to help you get these things down. Like for example, say for example, you're studying internal medicine. I have show for review videos online that are very good. Or like basically like I feel like I have videos on almost every section of the USM Ls. Step one, step two, step three, complex one, complex two, complex three. So you really don't have any excuse.

There's lots of good resources out there. So find, don't use a bad resource as your first contact with material. Use something that is decently detailed but not overly detailed. Well, use something that is decently detailed but not overly detailed. Something that is decently detailed, a good review that will give you a good foundation but is not overly detailed. It's not overly detailed. But again, your goal is to make sure that you're understanding. Now, some people, they say that, oh, divine, I learn material best when I listen to it. And that's fine. But let's say for example, there is no audio, visual resource for what you're trying to learn. There's lots of wonderful apps, especially in this era of AI, AI, AI. There's lots of wonderful apps that can basically read text. And I think there is actually a good number of free ones online that can read, read out texts to you, right? Like if it's an PDF format or a word format or whatever, it can read it out in a very legible way, right? And then just listen slowly. And here's the thing, try to listen with intent. Try to listen with intent. Like many people, they have these things where they're like, oh, let me be reading or studying or whatever and having music playing the background. Just don't do that. Just don't do that. Keep your phone away and just listen and learn. Okay. So now you've done this first. You've hopefully applied these principles for your first pass, right?

In fact, think of this section already described as the principles of the first pass. Now after you've done your first pass, you obviously have to do other passes through the material so that you can retain it. So what do you do? What I'm telling you is the most important step in all of these processes I've talked about at these principles I've already mentioned. These other principles I'm going to discuss, these other methods I'm going to discuss are just ways to help you retain that information or just enhance your learning of what you've already studied in detailed fashion and understood. Now, what are some practical approaches to retaining information? Number one, you can use linker words. I love this method a lot. Linker words that are handwritten. Again, we live in this age of technology where people love to type up everything. Don't get me wrong. There's nothing wrong with typing up everything. But honestly, things that you hand write, most times you're going to remember it a lot better. Most times you're going to remember it a lot better, right? So you can hand write things even on your iPad or whatever. But like hand write, linker words. So you'd be like divine. What in the world do you mean by linker words? Basically, I think of these things as words that if I see a word, it helps me remember like 10 things. Because many people when they're doing note-taking, you see them they take detailed notes, detailed notes, detailed notes. Don't get me wrong.

Is there anything wrong with that? No. What is that the most efficient way to get things done? Probably not. So write down linker words. Like for example, ask yourself this lecture. So you've done your first pass, you understand the material. Ask yourself this lecture. Is there a list of like 20 or 30 words I can write down? And if I look at these words, it will trigger a memory of a big concept that was discussed. It will trigger a memory of some key terms that we mentioned. Write down these linker words. I can't tell you how many times I have done this. Like I remember this was something I think I did either in undergrad. I know I did this at different points throughout undergrad, Met School, Residency, right? When I especially when I need to master large amounts of information, what did I do? I'll just write down some linker words. I'll just memorize some linker words. It may be 10 words or maybe 20 words. Sometimes you can, especially for something that's very dense, it can be 30, 40 words, but it can be from like a one hour lecture. But by just looking at those words, ask myself, okay, what does this word mean? What does this word relates to? And then I basically start recalling. I start thinking. I start thinking. Thinking. Okay, this linker word. Fairytid. Okay. Let's say one of my linker words is fairytid. And then I try to ask myself, okay, what have I learned about fairytid? Huh? Okay, fairytid is a measure of a person's iron stores. All right?

Well, fairytid is probably going to be decreased in iron deficiency andemia. Fairytid is probably going to be elevated in anemia of chronic disease because of this whole hip-siding business. And fairytid is definitely elevated in a person that has hemochromatosis. And that may be actually a way you can screen for hemochromatosis. And you know what? Fairytid is also an acute phased reactant. Right? So, I will not write down all these things I just said about fairytid, but I'll just write the word fairytid. And then try to, like, it's almost like the linker word is like a single word that triggers a series of quizzes and statements in your mind. I'm telling you, maybe like, man, define, does this work well? I promise you, it works extremely well because it forces you to think and remember. And if, for example, you look at a trigger word and you're like, hmm, man, this linker word, I don't really remember much about it. Then go back to that section you've read before and just read it again. I'm telling you, if you try this and practice it, over time, you'll become a master at this craft. Now, what is a second approach you can use to repeat? And just go over these linker words a few times, right? Now, what else can you do? To retain material. You can also make your own lecture. Just give your own talk, you know? Most people have like voice recorders on their phones.

Basically, just after you've read something and understood it, or you've listened to something and understood it, try to give a succinct lecture, not a long lecture, but a succinct lecture. And one of the reasons I love this approach is that it makes you put things in your own words. It literally will make you put things in your own words, in your own words. So when you're giving that lecture, it's almost like you're trying to dumb down the material. You're trying to explain that material to yourself. That material is going to stick in your mind. And that your own lecture that you make, if you save it on your phone, you can listen to it a few times and you're set for your exams. Now, honestly, these first two approaches I've discussed, the linker words, making your own lecture, those are things that maybe don't take as much time as the last approach I'm going to discuss. And that's this whole concept of Q&A. Q&A. It literally creates short form questions and answers. Right? So this is something you can easily do in Anki. Right? But again, many people when they make Anki decks, they do this whole thing with closed delusion. Close delusion is not very helpful. It's really not. Make it like an open-ended question, right? Like, okay, what is the mechanism behind XYZ? And the thing is, if you're a person that just abhors Anki, there's no theorem with that. You know what? And paper where you can just write down these questions and write down your answers to them.

Write down these questions. You can write down the questions somewhere. And then, on a different page, just write down the answers. Again, I'm telling you by forcing yourself to come up with questions and then forcing yourself to answer those questions, that material is going to stick in your mind. That material is going to stick in your mind. And one thing I would just say is, as you're doing these things, try to be thinking. Don't just be wrote. Don't go by a root. Many people, you have a brain. The brain is one of the most, if not maybe, the most vital organ in the body. Use it. Use it. Think as you're doing this thing. This is by both of us that says, think on these things. Many people these days, they just like to consume, consume, consume. They don't like to think. Think as you're studying. Be a thinking individual. And then the final thing I'll say in the spot cast is, you know, honestly in general, people ask, well, how many passes do I need to make? To really master information. Honestly, if you make two or three good passes, the material is going to stick. Right? The material is going to stick in your mind. So I'm going to stop here. Again, I'll throw one or one tutoring for all the US Emily exams and all the complex exams and pre-medical exams, like your first two years of med school, the exam that you study for. And then Clutchy's shelf exams offer tutoring for those.

I help with ERAS applications and rank lists and all those things and rec letters and editing, personal statements and all those things. And then I also have these podcasts on Apple, Google and Spotify. I have a You Tube channel that you can easily check out. And then I have another website called, divineinterventionlifelessons.com. Every week for the most part, I post two podcasts where from a biblical perspective, I address a life lesson. Lots of people have listened to these podcasts, found them to be extremely helpful. There's actually an Apple podcast associated with that called the divine intervention life lessons podcast. So again, check out divineinterventionlifelessons.com. So thank you for listening to me today. I'll see you in episode 512 of our wonderful rest of the day. God bless you. Bye for now. Thank you.

Time; starting early and not waiting until the last minute.

In the morning, after waking up, exercising, or sleeping well, when the brain is freshest.

Understanding (comprehension), not rote memorization.

They are single, high-yield words that trigger an entire network of related concepts; writing them by hand is recommended.

Open-ended questions (e.g., "What is the mechanism behind XYZ?") rather than closed, definitional ones.

Go back and reread that specific section to reinforce understanding before attempting recall again.

The slow pass principle; the first exposure requires slowing down for detailed mastery.

Because USMLE questions are written to test understanding and application, not just recall of facts.

Handwriting the linker words (even on an iPad) because manual writing improves memory retention compared to typing.

Using free AI text readers or having someone read the PDF/Word document aloud, while listening with intent.

The self-lecture forces you to put the material into your own words, which solidifies understanding (or "dumbs down" the concept).

The slow pass principle; the first exposure requires slowing down for detailed mastery.

Because USMLE questions are written to test understanding and application, not just recall of facts.

Handwriting the linker words (even on an iPad) because manual writing improves memory retention compared to typing.

Using free AI text readers or having someone read the PDF/Word document aloud, while listening with intent.

The self-lecture forces you to put the material into your own words, which solidifies understanding (or "dumbs down" the concept).